Of Secrets Great and Small
by pucktofaerie
Summary: Mark has a secret he's been keeping from his friends...how will they react when it all comes out in the open? Slightly AU: Angel lives! Rating may increase later...
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay, so I'm breaking out my very first 'Rent' fic. Yay! Yes, this is a MarkOC, because our favorite geek needs a girl. This is also sorta AU—I'm playing with the time lines a little. Angel lives…because I can't write this story without her. She may still die later, but I don't know. Basically, I just wanted the gang to have been together longer than they were in the movie.

To my fellow authors: some of you may notice snippets of things that are reminiscent of your own fics. This is not me trying to steal your ideas; this is your plot bunnies having babies with my plot bunnies. I've tried to tweak everything to make it my own, so…don't get mad. Remember, there are really only so many ideas to go around.

Disclaimer: Grrr…they're not mine. If they were, do you _really_ think I'd be sitting at an all-girl school putting off studying for my exams? No, I'd be happily freezing in Bohemia with our favorite guys. So don't bother suing; I haven't sold back my textbooks yet and I have about as much money as our boys.

FYI: After this chapter, the story will follow a regular story format. I just wanted to jump into the middle of things, and needed something to set it up. So…here. Enjoy, and remember: save a muse, send a review!

Prologue

It all started out quite innocently. Mark was shooting a segment with the Buzzline crew in the park. As they were packing up, the familiar _click-clack_ of a camera shutter caught his ear. The filmmaker turned and saw a pretty young woman taking seemingly random pictures not far from the news van. Mark watched her for a moment as she shot a picture, flicked the film advance lever to rotate the film, turned and spied out another subject, before repeating the process. Then, as though sensing Mark's stare, she turned and made eye contact with him. For once, instead of looking away embarrassed, Mark smiled at her. And she smiled back.

For awhile, that was it. A smile shared between strangers. Then, about a week later, Mark was sitting alone in the Life Café, sipping a tea and reading a newspaper. Roger was out with Mimi, Collins and Angel were who knows where, and Joanne was helping Maureen prepare for a show. Which left Mark with nothing to do and no one to do it with. But lo and behold, the filmmaker looked up and noticed that the same young woman from the park was sitting in two booths over. She smiled and thanked the waiter as he refilled her water, then looked back down at what appeared to be a sketchbook. After a moment, she looked up, catching Mark's eye, and smiled sheepishly. He grinned back, before looking back down at his paper. He waited a few minutes to make sure she had turned her attention back to her sketchbook before risking another peek. Glancing around the room, Mark swallowed the last of his tea and stood, casually making his way over to her table.

And that was how it started. They made small talk, he sat, and they flirted. He found out that her name was Tali, and that she was a multi-media artist. The night ended with her giving him her phone number. For a few days, he just held onto it, as work and friends kept him busy. But a few days later everyone else was once again occupied, and Mark pulled the number out of his coat pocket and decided, what the hell. Why shouldn't he go out and have a little fun on his own. So he decided to be bold and call her. They met up at the Life Café, and ended up just walking around for hours talking. That was the first of several casual dates, many of which rarely meant more than dinner and good conversation. Sometimes they ended up just pulling out their respective cameras and either shooting video or photos of whatever was around them.

However, their dates always occurred when all of Mark's friends were occupied with something else. If you were to ask Mark Cohen why he was putting off introducing his new girlfriend to his friends, he probably wouldn't have been able to give you a very good answer. Maybe it was because he wanted to protect her from the pain of being so close to so many people who are living on borrowed time. Or maybe, if he was a little more honest with himself, it was that he was enjoying spending time with someone who wasn't dying. For the small bits of time that he spent with Tali, Mark was able to pretend that he was a normal guy with normal friends who weren't dying of an incurable disease. He could pretend that they were all going to grow old together, and watch their kids play together in the streets.

But this, of course, was a fantasy. And like all fantasies, it was about to come to a rude awakening…


	2. What Things May Come

A/N: Glad to see that some people are enjoying themselves. Here's chapter two! And I'm warning you now, eventually this story is gonna get dark—at least for my OCs. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. I do have claim to my OCs—if you see something that you'd like to borrow, please ask (says the chick who's basing a bunch of stuff off of other people's fics). Anywho, don't sue—I'm broke.

Rent Quote:

"_Moo with me."_

-Maureen

Chapter 1: What Things May Come

"Come on, Mark. You've been putting this off _forever_," Tali said, a pleading smile in her eyes. Mark Cohen looked at his petite green-eyed girlfriend with a look that spoke volumes to the fact that he clearly didn't want to do whatever it was she was talking about. "When do I get to meet your friends?"

Mark sighed heavily. The two were walking in the park, hand in hand, and everything was altogether too perfect for them to be having this conversation. It was a beautiful day in early fall; the sweltering heat of summer had finally faded, but winter's bitter chill had not yet arrived. The two had been seeing each other for close to a month, and for once neither one of them had become preoccupied enough to pull out their cameras and start observing the people around them; they had been quite content with each other's company…at least until Tali had brought up the question that Mark had been dodging more and more the past couple of weeks.

Tali stared at her boyfriend for a moment before rolling her eyes. "_Mark_. Really…you talk about them all the time. They're obviously a big part of your life." When the filmmaker still refused to meet her gaze she pulled him onto a nearby park bench. Clasping both of his hands in hers, Tali waited to make sure that he was paying attention. "Are you…are you putting this off because…you're ashamed of me?"

Whatever Mark had expected Tali to say, it hadn't been that. He looked at her sharply, something akin to desperation in his eyes. "No! No, Tali, baby…of course I'm not ashamed of you. That's crazy."

Tali looked at him with a small, sad smile. "Is it, Mark? Cause after awhile, a girl starts to wonder…"

Mark lifted one of his hands out of Tali's hold and gently cupped the side of her face, causing her to lift her gaze to meet his. "Tali, I could _never_ be ashamed of you," he said seriously, before closing the small gap between them with a simple, sweet kiss. As they pulled apart, Tali smiled softly, lowering her eyes for a moment before beginning again.

"Mark, your friends are obviously really important to you," she started in a quiet voice. The seriousness of her tone caused Mark to stare into her eyes, a little worried about where this was going. "And they should be. It sounds like you guys are pretty much family, and I'm glad that you have so many close friends. The only thing is…" she bit her lip nervously, trying to find the right words. "I want to be important to you too. I…I definitely feel like I can see myself falling in love with you, Mark Cohen. But I can't do that, if you're going to keep this major part of your life from me. If you're so unwilling to let this happen, then it would be better for me to break this off now, while I still can. Do you understand?"

The filmmaker was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Yeah, Tali. I guess I do." Now it was Tali's turn to look nervous. He looked at her and smiled. "I…I just want the timing to be right, you know? I've been putting this off for so long, that it's gonna be kind of awkward now."

Tali laughed lightly, a bright sound to bring light into what had turned into far too serious a conversation. "Well now whose fault is that?" she asked playfully. Mark just looked at her before rolling his eyes. He stood, pulling her to her feet, and the two set out again, a little more cheerful than before. But behind his smile Mark was trying desperately to figure out what the hell he was going to do…

* * *

Mark pulled open the loft door before grabbing Tali's hand and leading her inside. He had instructed her to close her eyes, though she wasn't sure why. "Okay," he said, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Now?"

"Now." Tali opened her eyes to reveal the home of her boyfriend. She'd never been in Mark's loft before, and she stared around the large space wide-eyed, a grin playing on her face.

"You sure it's safe?" she teased as she looked around. Mark grinned back.

"Yeah. Roger's out with Mimi; I think he's spending the night at her place." After a moment he gestured over to the back wall of the living room, where he'd set up a large white sheet to serve as a screen for his projector, which was also set up and ready to go.

"What's this?" Tali asked as he gently pushed her into the couch that he'd set up just behind the projector. He shrugged as he began to get the film ready.

"You said you wanted to meet my friends," Mark said simply. It had been two days since their last conversation on that topic, and Tali eyed him suspiciously, but before she could say anything, he interrupted her.

"This is the best I can do until I figure out the best way to tell them." Tali closed her open mouth and settled back into the couch, crossing her legs as she did. This was Mark's show, after all, she had to let him do what he felt comfortable with.

Mark turned off the lights and flicked on the projector before sitting down beside Tali. The screen flickered to life, and Mark found himself immersed in memories, while Tali found herself finally putting names to faces in the film. Everyone appeared to be exactly as she had imagined them.

Nothing was said as the film rolled, and when it was over, Mark stood and turned off the projector. He walked to the wall switch to turn on the lights, and as he turned back to Tali, he saw her wiping away silent tears from her face. Catching his gaze, she smiled.

"Well?" he asked after a moment, hands in his pockets. Tali stood and walked over to him.

"They all seem like beautiful people," she said softly. Inwardly, Mark let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah," he agreed. "They are." Tali wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest, and they stayed like that for a few moments, before Mark kissed the top of her head, and she looked up.

"Why don't we go grab a bite to eat? We can bring it back here, if you want," he suggested. Tali smiled.

"I would love that." They pulled apart and headed out, Mark opening the door for her and closing it behind them. As they headed out, however, Tali couldn't help but ask.

"So when do I _really_ get to meet them?"

* * *

Okay guys, it's officially my birthday, so please leave a review on your way out. My muses prefer reviews to cake…and reviews make the perfect presents! 


	3. Who is That Girl?

A/N: So first off, yay! The response to this fic has been overwhelming. Over 400 hits with only two chapters; that's double what I've had for any other story. Now if only I could get you guys to leave reviews…really people, 10 reviews with 446 hits? We can do better than that.

Many thanks for the birthday wishes. Even though I had to take two exams on my birthday, my family came to take me to dinner, so it didn't suck. And I got the first season of Lost on DVD. Yayness—now I have something to watch on Christmas break.

And for those of you who were wondering when Tali is really gonna meet the gang, your wait is over…I'm well aware of the fact that this chapter is gonna sound slashy, but believe me, it's not. Roger isn't so much jealous, as hurt that his best friend would keep such a big secret from him. Get it? Got it? Good. No slash—it's not my style.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, and I don't think that Mr. Larson would want to claim my OCs. So…yeah, not mine. Although I'm sorely tempted to steal Mark's camera…

Anywho, enjoy the show!

Chapter 2: Who is That Girl?

Roger sat in the Life Café, halfway listening to the conversations going on around him. He found himself staring out the window, his mind wandering to the enigma that was his best friend. Mark had been acting strange lately, or at least stranger than usual. He had been in better spirits the past several weeks, but in a strange way the filmmaker had become more withdrawn and secluded. Sometimes he would disappear for hours at a time, and he had even cancelled plans with his friends a time or two. All in all, it was very unMarkish behavior.

The musician was pulled back into the present when Mimi pulled him to his feet, and he realized that everyone was leaving. He and Mimi had hooked up with Collins and Angel at the Life, and now the quartet slowly made their way out of the restaurant. As they spilled out onto the sidewalk, Roger nearly plowed into Collins's back as he and Angel stopped suddenly. "Oh my god," he heard Angel exclaim softly.

"Is that _Mark_?" Mimi asked in astonishment. Roger angled himself around Collins to find out what they were all staring at. Across the street, a familiar looking blond guy was coming out of the Chinese restaurant, hand in hand with a girl who had dark curls cut short above her shoulders. Mark had a bag of food in one hand, and was holding tight to the girl with the other. The two laughed at something, the girl talking animatedly and Mark smiling in a way that Roger hadn't seen in ages.

"Oooo, I wonder who she is," Angel said excitedly.

"Maybe she's nobody," Roger said, almost to himself. However, his self-delusion was shattered when at that moment the couple stopped as Mark pulled the strange girl into a kiss. Angel and Collins exchanged an impressed look, while Roger just looked disgusted. He had nothing against Mark dating, but he was repulsed at the fact that his best friend had felt the need to hide the fact that he obviously had a new girlfriend.

"That don't look like nobody to me," Collins said. As the couple started to disappear down the street, Roger stalked towards the loft. He was determined to find out what Mark had been hiding from him.

As though sensing Roger's intent, Angel rushed up to him and threaded her arm in his. "Now Roger…" she started.

"What?" he snapped. "Aren't you curious about what Mark's hiding from us?"

Angel pulled the musician to a halt. "Roger, I'm sure that Mark is just waiting for the right time," she said soothingly. "He would never intentionally hide something like thing to hurt you."

Roger glared at her for a moment, before sighing heavily. "Now you promise me that you're not going to do anything stupid," Angel prodded. "We need to wait until Mark is ready to come to us on his own."

After a long pause, Roger shook his head in defeat. "Fine," he spat. "I promise that I won't go up there and wring the truth out of my best friend, even though that's what I really want to do right now."

Angel nodded in satisfaction. "Good." She released his arm and walked back to Collins, who was just a few paces behind them. "Besides, I'm sure Marky is just waiting for the right moment."

* * *

Mark felt like shit. It had been nearly a week since he had promised Tali that he would introduce her to his friends, and three days ago he'd shown her his film. She was still eager to meet his friends, and he was no closer to finding a way to spring the news. To make matters worse, Roger had been acting strange towards him for a few days, though the filmmaker had no idea why. But knowing that Roger was prone to moodiness, he tried not to think about it too much.

Now everyone was in the loft, laughing and having a good time. However, Mark found that he had a hard time being comfortable with his friends while under the burden of his secret. He just wished that he could find a way to tell them…

As fate would have it, however, he didn't have to tell them. As the evening wore on, he found himself caught up in a fight trying desperately to keep Maureen from telling everyone about some of his more embarrassing childhood moments. A knock sounded on the loft door, but it barely registered in his mind; Tali was working, and Maureen was threatening to drag out the tale about their friend Aaron's bar mitzvah and the game of spin the bottle that Mark would rather forget.

Collins, drink in hand, walked over and pulled open the loft door. Much to his surprise, the dark-haired girl that they'd seen Mark with was standing on the other side. A momentary flash of shock appeared on her face, but was quickly replaced with a broad smile. "Hi," she said. Peering around Collins into the loft, she added, "Is…is Mark here?"

The professor, after his own moment of shock, smiled at the young woman and stood aside, waving her inside. "Yeah, he's here," he answered, though it was unnecessary, as Mark had already seen Tali standing in the doorway. The filmmaker stood rooted in place for a moment, eyes locked with his girlfriend's, wondering exactly what was happening and how the hell he was going to deal with it. Embarrassing stories forgotten, Mark strode over to Tali and pulled her aside. Silence fell over the other Bohemians as they realized who was at the door, except for Maureen, who rattled on for several moments before realizing that no one was paying any attention to her.

"What are you doing here?" Mark asked quietly. Collins left them by the door, sitting left to Angel, while Angel and Mimi exchanged somewhat nervous glances. "I thought you had to work."

Tali smiled at her boyfriend. "I did. But Deirdre wanted to be off Thursday, so I offered to switch with her." The young woman glanced around the room with a nervous smile. "I wanted to surprise you."

Mark sighed and closed his eyes, before remembering that his six closest friends were staring at them, probably wondering what the hell was going on. He lifted his gaze to Tali, who smiled at him encouragingly. "No time like the present," she offered quietly. He sighed again.

"Right." Taking Tali's hand, Mark moved further into the room, standing before his friends. "Um, guys…this is Tali Sandburg. She's, uh, she's my new girlfriend."

Standing slightly behind Mark, Tali smiled and sort of waved at the group. Angel burst out in a smile, standing to her feet and walking over to the couple. "Well welcome to the family, honey," she said, pulling Tali into a hug. "I'm Angel."

Collins wasn't far behind his girl. "Collins," he said, reaching out and shaking Tali's hand. She grinned back up at him, before glancing over at Mark, as though to say 'See? This isn't so bad.' But Mark was staring at the other occupants in the room, particularly his roommate. Roger looked…pissed. And for that matter, Maureen didn't appear to be overly pleased either.

Mark only paid idle attention as Mimi and Joanne introduced themselves to Tali, even though the introductions were really unnecessary. Tali already knew who was who from the film.

"Tali?" Mimi asked, sounding slightly confused by the name. The other young woman nodded and grinned sheepishly.

"Talorah," she explained. "My mother was determined to give me as Jewish of a name as possible."

Everyone laughed. "Well now, this is reason for a celebration!" Collins declared, ordering everyone to get their things. Mark stared at Roger for a few moments longer, who stared back, shooting daggers into his best friend. Without a word they joined the others heading out of the loft and Mark just couldn't shake the feeling that the entire thing had been too easy, and that something bad was going to happen.

* * *

Okay, so what'd think? Fireworks are sure to follow, and not just with Roger…let me know what you think. Remember: save a muse, send a review! 


	4. They Should Call It Death Support

A/N: Hello, my wonderful peoples! I'm so sorry for the delay in updating; this chapter has been giving me a fit. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and if you celebrate something else, then Happy Whatever. I'm now enthralled over my gift of a digital camera, which takes photos and video, so I can now wander around with it feeling like an upgraded Tali or Mark.

Chapter notes: Ummm…not sure that there's really anything too important to explain. In case I didn't say it before, I will be referring to Angel as a 'she' throughout the fic, just to cut down on my confusion. In regards to the bar where Tali works, think the bar from Coyote Ugly. It's that kind of place. Other than that…I don't know. If you have questions, let me know.

Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers and readers. The response on this story has been better than any other story I've ever done. But guys, I cannot beg enough for more reviews. Even if you don't like what I'm doing, please let me know what you think. It take ten seconds, and it makes my muse happy. Cause really guys, 19 reviews with 889 hits is a little depressing. Now, after that shameless begging…

Disclaimer: They're not $#& mine! Only Tali and Caleb and my other OCs are mine, and you can't have them! So there…

I swear that I had already thought of this title before DaybyDay posted her (?) story 'Death Support'. You may not believe, but I just had to throw that in.

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 4: They Should Call It Death Support

Tali sat on the worn-out couch in her living room, wondering how the hell things had gone so wrong. The evening had started out great. She'd gone to work, and had overheard Deirdre begging their boss Dani for Thursday off. Thursday happened to be Tali's semi-regular night off, so she offered to switch with Irish redhead, on the condition that she work tonight for Tali. After that, Tali had gone to Mark's loft to surprise him.

Okay, so that might have been a mistake. Tali had been completely shocked when Collins opened the door. She knew that she really shouldn't have been so surprised; from the way Mark talked, his friends were a major part of his life. But he hadn't mentioned all of them having any plans for that evening, so Tali had assumed that he would be by himself. Boy, had she been wrong…

But even that seemed to work itself out. She had been dying to meet Mark's friends, and since he'd been having a hard time coming up with the right time, it appeared that fate had stepped in. Most everyone had been really nice, and they all went to the Life Café to celebrate her and Mark's 'new' relationship. Of course, that had been when things _really _started to go wrong.

* * *

Earlier that Evening

"So then Mark starts _freaking out_, comes running out of his bedroom in his boxers jumping all over the place shaking himself off like he's got the cooties or something," Collins laughed as he finished telling yet another embarrassing story about Mark. As best Tali could tell, this one involved something about the winter that several mice had decided to make the loft their temporary home, and Mark waking up to find one on his chest, and a few more in his bed. The entire table laughed at the filmmaker's expense, who only ducked his head and blushed as he tried to just wave off the humiliation. Tali couldn't help but laugh along with the others, not just at the stories but at her boyfriend's reaction. She patted his arm in support, grinning broadly.

"So Tali," Angel crooned once the laughter had died down. "What do you do when you're not going out seducing filmmakers?"

Mark snorted into his drink and Tali laughed before answering Angel's question. "Well, I'm an aspiring multi-media artist, which means that I wander around the city taking pictures of things and then take the pictures and combine them with other mediums. Other than that, I work at the Wolf Pack bar just outside the Village at night as a bartender."

"Isn't that the place where they dance on the bar and stuff?" Mimi asked excitedly. Tali nodded.

"Yeah. It's actually a lot of fun," she replied. With that question answered, various conversations began to sprout up as Mimi asked Tali some more questions about her job. Collins laughed at something Angel said, and Mark tried to ignore the fact that Roger was still giving Tali the evil eye and Maureen was flat out glaring at how comfortable Tali appeared to be with her ex. Angel happened to glance at her watch and tugged Collins's sleeve.

"Ooo, guys, we'd better get going if we're gonna catch Life Support," she said. Most everyone else started either looking at clocks or gathering their things. At the mention of Life Support, Tali shot Mark a skittish look. He tried to look reassuring, but wasn't didn't think that he'd succeeded. This was what he'd been afraid of when it came to introducing Tali to his friends.

"Hey Tali, are you gonna come?" Angel asked, putting the young woman on the spot. Tali looked at Mark with a look of fear, and her delayed response and reaction caused her to become the spotlight attraction of the group. Well aware that everyone was staring at her, Tali turned to Mark and directed her response to him.

"I think I'm gonna take some food to Caleb; make sure he eats something. I'll catch up with you later?" Mark nodded; he knew her past, and understood why Life Support was somewhat of a scary thing for his girlfriend. He was just afraid of his friends' reactions.

"What, you got a problem with people with AIDS or something?" Roger asked bluntly, looking a little angry. He'd spent most of the evening studying his roommate and the new girl, trying to figure out why he was so put off by her. Her reaction to Life Support was just adding fuel to the fire.

Tali turned to Roger, her eyes turning to ice. "If I did, then I wouldn't be here, now would I?" she answered with a smile colder than a Bohemian winter. Picking up her box of leftovers, she turned back to Mark.

"I'll see you later," she said softly, giving him a peck on the cheek. With that, she shouldered her bag and walked out of the restaurant, paying for her meal on the way out. Mark stared after her for a moment, before turning his gaze to Roger. His roommate was glaring at him, and everyone else was standing around in an awkward silence. After a moment, everyone started moving again, and they slowly filtered out, paying for their meals and splitting up outside. Maureen and Joanne headed for home, Joanne saying that she had to be in court the next morning. The rest of them headed for the community center.

* * *

"Jewel of a girl you've got there, Mark," Roger said sarcastically as they walked to Life Support. Collins, Angel, and Mimi held back slightly, allowing the roommates some room. Mark stopped abruptly, glaring at Roger angrily.

"You don't know anything about her, okay? Life Support meetings happen to be a tough topic with Tali," he answered before stalking off again. Roger rolled his eyes and followed the filmmaker up the steps to the community center.

* * *

Now Tali sat in her living room, trying vainly to figure out what she was going to do. She didn't want to go to the Life Support meeting; the very thought brought up too many well hidden memories. But she also knew that the meetings were important to Mark and his friends. Somehow Tali had a feeling that if she couldn't show her support in this area of their lives, she would never truly be accepted by Mark's adopted family.

With a heavy sigh, the Jewish girl shoved herself off of the couch and grabbed her coat. She knew what she was going to do; putting it off wasn't going to make it any easier. Tali walked across the small apartment as she put on her coat and knocked on her older brother's bedroom door.

"Caleb?" she called. After a moment, the door creaked open and a pair of bleary brown eyes peered out at her. "I'll be back in a little bit. Food's in the fridge; make sure you eat, okay? And don't forget to take your AZT." With a nod, Caleb murmured a response before shutting the door again. Tali sighed and shook her head before heading out of the apartment.

* * *

Mark stood back from the small circle of Life Support members, observing them through his camera. Even though his first documentary was finished, he still enjoyed filming the meetings, if only as a way to preserve the memory of people who only had a limited time to live. He circled the back part of the group slowly till he was facing the door before he paused again to get more footage. Mark grinned as Sue said something that caused the group to laugh.

With the group distracted by the humorous moment, no one but Mark noticed as the back door opened and a lone figure slipped. The filmmaker smiled proudly as Tali quietly entered the room, meeting his gaze with a shy smile of her own. She sat in the end chair of the second row of chairs that were set up behind the circle, her presence going unnoticed by several members of the group for a few minutes. Those with their backs to her turned when they noticed others looking at the newcomer, but no one said anything. Some offered her welcoming smiles, and Paul gave her a friendly smile when he noticed her. Not wanting to interrupt the meeting, he simply continued, allowing Tali to go unannounced.

About fifteen minutes later, the meeting broke up, everyone standing and saying their goodbyes. Mark started to head over to Tali when he noticed Paul going to her. The filmmaker hung back, opting instead to pack up his camera and give his girlfriend a few moments with the group leader before saying anything.

Paul approached Tali with a big smile on his face. "Tali," he greeted, warmly shaking her hand. "I'm so glad to see you again."

Tali grinned shyly and ducked her head. "Yeah…well…"

"I was worried when you and Caleb didn't return to the group after…well, after the funeral. I've missed you guys being here."

"Yeah," Tali stammered again. "Well…I've missed it too."

Paul's expression turned to one of concern. "How's Caleb doing?"

Tali took a deep breath, straightening her shoulders as she looked up at the soft-spoken man. "He's…hanging in there. You know how it goes; he has his good days and his bad days. We lost Sean a few months back; he's been worse since then, but…he's hanging in there."

Paul gave her an encouraging smile. "Well good. Maybe you can get him to start coming back to the group." He paused as he noticed Mark slowly approaching from behind Tali. His first thought was that Mark needed something from him, but understanding quickly clicked as Tali turned and smiled at the filmmaker.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he answered, nodding to Paul as well. Mark took Tali hand and gestured to where their friends were gathered. "You almost ready?"

Tali glanced back at Paul, giving him a smile. "Yeah, I think so. It was good to see you again, Paul."

"You too Tali. Hope to see you again soon." Paul answered, waving a goodbye. With a quick look to Mark, she looked back at Paul with a more confident smile.

"I think you will," she said softly, allowing Mark to lead her back to their friends.

Angel, Mimi, and Collins greeted Tali enthusiastically, excited to see their new friend at the Life Support meeting. Roger held back from the others slightly, his arms crossed against his chest. The group started to leave, talking and laughing as the others congratulated Tali's change of heart.

Once outside, Roger got up beside Tali and Mark. "So why the big about-face?" he asked somewhat rudely. "I mean, I thought that the whole idea of Life Support made you uncomfortable." Tali looked at him, her expression a mixture of anger and shock. She stopped walking, causing the others to stop as well. Angel, Collins, and Mimi held back to observe what was happening, while Mark stood slightly behind Tali wondering what the hell his girlfriend was about to do.

Tali released Mark's hand and stepped up to Roger, pointing her finger at him. The sight was a little funny, as Tali barely came up to Roger's shoulder. "Let me tell you something," she started, her words seething with anger. "Until a couple of years ago, my brother Caleb and I attended these meetings every week with our mom. For three years we came here with her. They didn't help her deal with life any better; hell, all she did was try to drown her problems even more. But we still came, even on days when she was too strung out to make it. Practically everyone that we'd started with died in the time period that we came. Then she died too, and we didn't really see the point in coming back. Even after Caleb was diagnosed. So yeah, I guess the idea of Life Support does make me a little uncomfortable. Cause for me, it doesn't represent life at all." Her angry rant finished, Tali took a deep breath and started to stalk down the street.

Mark glared at his roommate, who was standing there in a semi-state of shock, before jogging down the street after his girlfriend. He'd hoped that Tali's appearance at Life Support would help the tensions with Roger, but instead, Mark just had a feeling that he would having a very serious discussion with his roommate when they got home that night.

* * *

There you go guys. Next chapter: fireworks! Various attitudes will be explained…and who knows what will happen. I should have the next chapter done soon, but I'm not making any promises. Till then, save a muse, send a review! 


	5. Chapter? What chapter?

A/N: Okay, so can I say how incredibly sorry I am that this has taken so long? My Jan Term class requires two papers a day, and a ton of reading, so I've been short on time, and the Maureen/Joanne thing at the end has been really holding me up. My muse has been messing with my head on that bit. Anywho, hope ya'll can forgive me.

Sorry if Maureen is kinda a bitch in this chapter. I just really think that this is how she would react to Mark getting a new girlfriend, cause it seems to match her personanlity. I mean, she didn't even like Joanne fussing over him. Why would she like seeing him in the arms of another woman? So…like it or leave it.

And don't forget: save a muse, leave a review!

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"Tali!" Mark called as he jogged after his girlfriend. "Tali, wait!" Tali's pace slowed only slightly, her anger still fuelling her forward. Mark quickened his pace and finally caught up to her, grabbing her arm to stop her. "Tal…"

"What?" she snapped. Realizing that it was just Mark, she took a deep breath and ran a hand over her face and through her curls. There was a moment of silence as Tali gathered herself.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Mark assured her. "Roger was being an ass." Tali nodded and smiled, sticking her hands in her back pockets. Mark put his arm around her and they started back down the street.

After a few minutes Tali sighed, leaning her head back before wrapping an arm around Mark's waist. She put her head on his shoulder as they walked. "Walk me home?"

The filmmaker smiled. "What do you think I'm doing?" Tali grinned and gave him a peck on the cheek. Somehow her boyfriend made everything seem a lot better.

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Roger sat on the couch with his guitar, picking through some new sheet music for his band. Mimi had gone straight back to her place, not wanting to stick around and deal with an angry Roger. The musician barely looked up when he heard the loft door open, but when he heard Mark slam it shut with more force than was needed he was forced to face his very pissed off roommate.

"What the hell was that?" Mark asked. Roger glared at him for a moment, all of the anger that he'd been feeling since first seeing Mark with Tali coming back to him in full force.

"What the hell was that?" Roger repeated incredulously. "What the hell is with you having a girlfriend for over a month without letting anybody know?"

Mark stared at his roommate in shocked confusion. "Since when do I have to report to you about my social life?"

Roger laughed as he stood and crossed over to the filmmaker. "Well seeing as how this is the first time you've actually _had_ a social life…" he trailed off as he poked his finger at Mark's chest. "I would have just expected that my _best friend_ would think enough of me to let me know that he was dating someone."

"So what, you being a total ass to Tali is really about me not telling you about her in the first place?"

Roger swung his arms about in a big gesture of 'I don't know'. "All I know is this girl appears out of the blue and suddenly you're madly in love with her? Mr. 'I Can't Get My Camera Out of My Ass?' Makes me wonder what it is that she's sellin' that makes her so wonderful." Mark's look turned to one of disgust and fury. "Oh, give me a…what the hell would make you think something like that, man? You barely even know her."

"Jee, I wonder why that is? Could it be because you're so ashamed of your friends that they don't even warrant a proper introduction?"

Silence fell over the loft as Mark just stared at his best friend with his mouth hanging open.

"Roger…" Mark started, before stopping and taking a deep breath. "I never…I didn't put off telling you about Tali because I was ashamed of you. I just…" The filmmaker stopped again and ran his fingers through his hair.

"At first, Tali was just a girl. Even after we talked, I didn't think anything would come of it. And I didn't need anymore ragging about how I couldn't get a girl. Later, I just…I wanted to protect her. Until I found out about her family, I didn't want to subject her to…" Again he cut himself off, looking up and staring into Roger's eyes, holding the musician's gaze.

"I knew that she was going to get along great with you guys. And I just didn't want to subject her to the pain of watching people that she cared about die. I couldn't do that to her." Mark's voice was quiet as he dropped his gaze, and Roger found his anger ebbing away as he began to understand his friend's reasoning.

"And since then, I've just been trying to find the right time. She's actually been bugging me for weeks about meeting you guys. I wanted the timing to be right," Mark added, shrugging his shoulders slightly. He looked from the floor to Roger and waited for his roommate's reaction.

"Was that really it?" Roger asked after a moment. Mark smiled in relief and nodded.

"Yeah, man. That was it."

Roger put his hands on his hips and nodded. "Alright, bro." He closed the remaining gap between himself and Mark and shook the filmmaker's hand. "I'm sorry for being such an ass."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Mark answered. Then he smiled. "Does this mean that you're gonna give Tali a second chance?"

Roger smiled sheepishly. "Yeah man. Besides, she's already got you hooked. What choice do I have?"

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Maureen entered the apartment in an angry huff, throwing her hands around as she absently wandered around the living room. Joanne closed the door behind her, giving her girlfriend an exasperated look. "Can you _believe_ that?" Maureen exclaimed. "That little…_floozy _waltzes in from nowhere and Mark is wrapped around her little finger!"

"Mo…" Joanne started, before Maureen cut her off again.

"And did you see the way she was all _over_ him?"

Joanna sighed. "Baby, they were holding hands. They kissed a few times."

Maureen acted as though she hadn't even heard the other woman. "And can you believe how she acted when Angel mentioned Life Support? You'd think it was the Black Plague!"

"Honey, it's not like we ever go to those either," Joanne pointed out. She was right; Joanne was usually too busy and Maureen was entirely too self-absorbed to sit for an hour and listen to other people's stories.

"I just can't believe that Marky would fall in with someone like…_that_. Multi-media artist, my ass," Maureen huffed as she crossed her arms across her chest. Joanne looked at her in frustrated disbelief, realization hitting her hard.

"Mo, are you…are you jealous of this girl?" Maureen didn't say anything, but instead walked around to the kitchen, still mumbling under her breath. Joanne stared at her for a moment, mouth open, before her own rage kicked in.

"Oh, I see what's going on. You're jealous because suddenly _you're_ not the only girl in Mark's life anymore. He's finally moving on, and you don't like it because it means he won't be dropping everything to come running when you want him for something!" Maureen still said nothing, and Joanne huffed angrily.

"You and Mark have been broken up for nearly two years now, and Mark has spent most of that time pining over you. Why can't you just let the boy be happy?" Finally out of steam, Joanne sighed. "I'm going to bed."

Maureen stood there for a long time, silently fuming and mulling things over in her head. She didn't like Tali, and after all, Mark had been her's first. Maureen had liked things the way they were, and this new girl would ruin everything. But maybe…the diva decided that there was only one thing to do. Maybe if she found out how loyal Mark still was to her…well, maybe then she could decide how she felt about this new chick.

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Ah, well…that's that. Hopefully the next chapter will come easier. And hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. -crosses fingers- So, leave a review on the way out so that my muse won't abandon me again! Love ya peeps! 


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